Desert Rose
by ThisEndlessStarlight
Summary: Everyone told her it was just an ordinary bracelet, little do they know it holds the memories of an ancient Japanese princess. Rikku May Hikari has been able to witness these memories ever since her sixteenth birthday, but when she has a run in with King of Games Yugi Muto she realizes there's more to this princess than she ever thought possible. I super suck at suck at summaries.
1. Chapter 1

**Oh! Hi, hey, so just gonna put a little disclaimer here before we get into it. I'm not much of a writer. I enjoy writing, but I'm not nearly as talented as many of the writers here. This story has been something I've been writing to help distract me from my divorce (Insert not so sad sob story here). My, I guess you could call her beta reader, loves it so I figured I'd share it. If people don't like it that's cool. Although if you lovely people don't flame me that would be awesome. If you DO like it, go ahead and let me know. I'll just assume people don't like it otherwise and not update. o3o I'll be following the Dub for the most part, because I'm lame and haven't watched the sub. Anyway, I don't Yu-Gi-Oh! Just my OCs Rikku and Recca. Anju belongs to my beta reader. Toodles poodles! **

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><p><em>Dring Dring Dring! Dring Dring Dring!<em>

She could hear the sound of the landline upstairs, the persistent ringing nagging at her to leave the nest of papers and books she had made to answer the phone.

'_Ichiro will answer it,' _she reasoned, returning to what she was doing.

It had been a long night of going through her family's basement looking for anything that would aid her research project, and Rikku wasn't about to let anything distract her now.

"Yo! Mayflower!"

_Nothing _was going to distract her . . .

"Riiiiiikkuuuuuu!" The sing songy voice of her brother drew nearer, but she refused to look up.

'_Nothing!'_

"It's Recca and Anju."

Rikku's head shot up at the sound of her two best friends' names. Immediately she forgot about the promise she made to herself and she reached for the phone in her older brother's hand. Naturally he held it over his head as he scanned the room with disapproving eyes and she fruitlessly jumped up to grab it from him. It was at times like this that she hated having an older brother. Even now at the age of twenty one he still acted like a child.

"C'mon Ichiro! Gimme the phone!" She pleaded.

"It's terrifying in here Rikku! If Mom and Dad saw the basement like this you'd be busted. You're not even supposed to be down here after what happened."

"That was a long time ago!" the raven haired teen huffed. "And it wasn't that big of a deal."

"You locked yourself down here," Ichiro retorted. "And you came running out of here like a big baby when we finally found you."

"I was six . . ." she mumbled.

Taking advantage of Ichiro being distracted by the mess Rikku jumped on a shelf behind him and snatched the phone out of his hand before launching herself to the other side of the room with a triumphant laugh. She heard a protesting; "Hey!" and the sound of what she could only assume was Ichiro tripping over her nest. It served him right for teasing her.

"Hello beautiful people," she said as she put the phone to her ear and returned to her chipper self.

"Hey! Got some time to spare? We found something that might interest you," the booming, confident voice of Recca replied.

"What did you find?"

"We were walking to find a place to eat when we passed the museum," Anju's more calming and soft voice chimed in. "They have a really neat Egyptian exhibit open today."

"It could help with your research on the bracelet!" Recca added.

Rikku's hand found itself running over the bracelet around her wrist. It had been a mystery to her for years. Where the eye shaped, Egyptian style bracelet came from and how her family came to possess it was still unknown to her. All she knew was that strange things happened to her when she wore it; things people other than her two best friends wouldn't believe.

"We'll text you the address okay? We'll go together."

With a curt goodbye Rikku grabbed her cell phone off her dresser and jogged down the stairs only to be grabbed from behind by Ichiro before she could even reach the door.

"Hey Runt. Where do you think you're going?" he questioned using his spare hand to give her the worst noogie of her life. Most likely as payback for the stunt she pulled in the basement.

"Out!" she replied simply, as a majority of her energy was being used trying to get out of his grasp.

He finally let go only to give her a book he had used to tap her on the head a couple of times.

"Give this back to your friend then will ya?"

"Which one?" Rikku mumbled as she mindlessly fixed her hair from his torture.

"The non irritating one."

"Fine fine. Just give it."

It should have been a short walk to the museum from where she had parked her scooter. Although since she hadn't been there before she found herself getting turned around more than once. Recca's constant stream of texts asking where she was certainly wasn't helping. Feeling rushed she found herself running through the busiest part of town, her green eyes fixated on the screen and her fingers typing furiously in response to the texts.

Rikku knew better . . . Her klutzy behavior had taken over her more often than usual over the past couple of months; Running into doors, tripping down stairs . . . Colliding into people and today was no exception.

It was too late by the time she looked up. When she did all she was a head full of spiky hair and bright violet eyes as she ran right into the poor guy. It hadn't been hard enough to knock any of them over, but Rikku spazzed and found herself falling backwards, reaching for anything (or anyone for that matter) that would help her keep her balance. Her hands found cloth and she shut her eyes tight to brace for impact.

She heard a couple of light gasps . . . some laughing, and finally the voice of a girl calling out for whoever she had grabbed as she landed butt first into the fountain in the middle of the square.

'_Why me?' _Rikku pouted mentally, feeling steady streams of water running down her face.

Honestly, she couldn't for the life of her understand why all of these bad things had been happening to her lately; the klutziness, the light headedness, the over sleeping when she had somewhere important to be, the overall spazzy behavior. She had a hunch. Sure, Rikku had been this way before, but never to this extent, that is until she found her bracelet.

"This damn thing is nothing but trouble!"

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><p>FLASHBACK<p>

"I dunno what you're hoping to find down here . . . You've only searched this basement top to bottom three times," a seventeen year old Ichiro complained watching as his baby sister used some shelves as steps. She frowned, but didn't look back at him.

"I'm not looking for anything. It's called exploring . . . And you said you'd keep watch."

"I doubt that anything new has magically appeared since the last time-"

"Hey wow! Look Ichiro! There's a little hidden cubby type thing back here!"

"You have got to be kidding me . . ."

Ignoring the snide remarks coming from her brother Rikku pried open the hatch with her fingers and reached inside, her hand patting around the small space in hopes of finding something. Her eyes practically sparkled and a grin formed as she ran a hand over what felt like a small box.

"Anything in there?" Ichiro questioned.

Rikku didn't answer, letting the jewel encrusted box speak for itself. Eagerly she opened it, tossing it aside and she pulled out the gold bracelet hidden within. All she could do was stare at it with wonder, holding it up in front of her face to examine it more closely.

"Ooooo," was all the preteen could manage to spit out before the sound of a crack brought her back into reality.

She didn't have time to react. Before she knew it the shelves that were supporting her collapsed from under her and she found herself flat on her back, covered in boxes; a situation she had found herself in on more than one occasion.

"Ah! Rikku!"

The panic in Ichiro's voice didn't concern her, nor did the sound of her parents bounding down the stairs. Rikku knew she wasn't supposed to be in the basement, and she knew that she was busted for disobeying her parents, but she didn't care. She was far too excited by her recent find.

"Look what I found Mom!" she exclaimed holding up the bracelet as the three pulled the boxes and pieces of shelf off that was weighing her down.

"It looks Egyptian . . . Have we ever been to Egypt? What about Gran? She was always talking about all of the trips she and Grandpa had been on. I bet she went! How old do you think it is? Oh man! What if it was worn by an ancient Egyptian princess?! Do we have any Egyptian ancestry-"

"Rikku please . . ." her mother interrupted.

Immediately she shut her mouth closed making a key locking motion with her free hand with a grin.

"You'll be fine," her father said with a chuckle. He helped her stand up and brushed off her clothing. "What did we say about coming down here Mayflower?"

"To not to . . . " Rikku replied. She looked down at her shoes only just now realizing the trouble she was in. She looked back up when her mother held out her hand and motioned for her new found treasure.

"The bracelet please Rikku."

She turned back to her father with her best puppy dog stare. She knew the pull she had with him. She knew that he felt guilty that he was almost always gone and Rikku used that to her advantage.

"Oh c'mon Kimi. It's just a couple of broken shelves. It's nothing we can't replace. There's no need to punish her for that."

"It's not the shelves I'm worried about Kazuhiko," she retorted. "She could have gotten seriously injured."

"Promise not to come down here again?" he asked turning back to his daughter who nodded furiously. "Then run along."

Again she nodded, taking advantage of the opportunity before her mother could convince him to change his mind. As soon as she was in her room and the door was closed and locked Rikku plopped down on the floor to examine her treasure one more time. With a smile she slipped it on her left wrist and ran her fingers over the eyes shaped accessory.

"I'll never take it off . . ."

-x-

"Hey, Uhm . . . Are you okay?"

Rikku's eyes met those of the boy she taken down with her and instantly the red on her face began to deepen. Her little show had gotten the attention of the entire square and her outburst had caused them all to gather around. Too embarrassed to answer she pulled her soaking wet hair over her face to hide the blush.

"I am so so so sorry," she finally managed to blurt out from behind the curtain of hair.

"Alright people! Show's over. Disperse . . . Go on! Beat it!"

Mentally Rikku thanked the girl who had managed to send everyone away. The situation was embarrassing enough. She didn't need an audience.

"It's okay," the boy responded with a slight chuckle. "Are you okay?" he repeated.

"Wet . . ." she mumbled incoherently, brushing her hair back out of her face. He held out his hand with a kind smile.

"Let me help you up," he offered.

Rikku nodded accepting his hand, but frowned when the puzzle around his neck caught her eye. It looked eerily similar to her bracelet, and when she opened her mouth to ask him about it both items began to glow to the point of momentarily blinding her. She knew exactly what was happening, so when she opened her eyes again and she wasn't in Domino City she wasn't surprised. She was surprised however that the boy from before was standing next to her.

"Where are we?" he asked.

'It appears to be ancient Egypt,' a deeper voice replied.

She couldn't see who had answered, but she could distinctly hear a voice that hadn't come from her new spiky haired friend. Rikku couldn't be bothered with that however as her attention averted to a younger version of the boy walking past them with a girl in tow.

"It's you Spirit!"

'_Who the hell is he talking to?'_

"Hey . . . that's you?" he then asked her, pointing at the girl.

He didn't seem all too surprised that the girl captured Rikku's likeness, and that the boy captured his own. He should have been. Any sane person would be flipping their lids at this point.

"No, her name is-"

"Akane! Careful, you could fall," the Egyptian boy said, looking up at the girl who was now hanging upside down from a tree. With a grin she jumped down from the branch, and straightened out the dark purple kimono that stuck out like a sore thumb.

"You worry too much!"

"Only when you're around," he retorted.

She giggled as she flopped down next to him under the tree. She rested her head on his now straightened out legs before changing the subject.

"Where does your father think you're at?"

"Playing with Mana. Where does Natsuko think you are?"

"I left behind a doppelganger," she answered proudly. "She thinks I'm playing in the palace garden."

"Isn't she your teacher? You don't think she'll know the difference?"

"I've been practicing I'll have you know. I only teleported to one other place before I made it here this time!"

"My mistake then," he said with a smile, clearly amused by Akane's defensiveness.

"I don't understand why no one wants me to be here. It's not like we're hurting anyone, and you're my only friend! You would think they would want their princess to be happy and have at least one . . ."

"We have responsibilities to our lands," he rationalized, causing her to pout.

"We're too young for talk like that," she argued.

It was silent between the two until the boy motioned for her to get up.

"I have something for you," he said with a smile.

"A present?!" Her eyes sparkled as he pulled out the all too familiar bracelet and dangled it in front of Akane.

"Now you can have a piece of Egypt with you whenever you go back to Japan," he said as he put it on her wrist. "We'll be friends forever. No matter what."

Before Rikku could see the princess's reaction the blinding light returned, and when she opened her eyes again she was back in Domino City, still firmly grasping the hand of who she could only assume was Yugi by his female friend's cry.

"Yugi! Are you okay?" she asked. "You spaced out there for awhile."

"Uhm . . . yeah. I think so."

Frantically Rikku ripped her hand away. She had seen memories of Akane before. That was what her bracelet did; show her scenes of the princess's life. It was random and the memories were almost always out of order, but she had never seen the boy before; the boy who looked exactly like the one standing in front of her. She needed to get out of there . . . She needed Recca and Anju. Her head was spinning.

"Hey wait!" Yugi called after she bolted. "Come back!"

Rikku ignored his pleas, picking up her pace instead. She didn't know where she was going, but luckily she spotted the black hair, and equally dark dress of Anju ahead of her. She grabbed the girl from behind when she reached her warranting a slight gasp.

"Rikku! Where the hell have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you!" Recca said as she put her hands on Rikku's shoulder in an attempt to calm her down.

"Something strange has happened."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! So I managed to get a couple of followers after posting my first chapter. Yay! ;3; That must mean that it wasn't too terrible. Hehe. x3 I feel more comfortable with posting the next chapter now! I'd like to be able to update once a week. I already have four chapters written. It's just a matter of posting them. Anyway! Enjoy! /poofs**

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><p>"When do strange things not happen to you?"<p>

Rikku huffed at Recca's snide remark and brushed her hands off now that she had calmed down slightly. It was true that she always seemed to be smack dab in the middle of everything weird. However she didn't appreciate it being pointed out. Especially when her bad luck led to falling into fountains and running into people that seemed to have some connection to her and the bracelet. Regardless Rikku opened her mouth to reveal the true meaning behind her freak out only to be interrupted by more jokes.

"Wait, wait! Let me guess what happened . . . Ichiro finally decided to take a shower."

Anju let out a giggle before joining in.

"Did you meet Kim JaeJoong? He's so dreamy."

"Dude. I thought you had a boyfriend. Why are you always going on about that singer bloke?" Recca questioned.

"He is my boyfriend."

"I think your boyfriend would beg the differ . . . And who the hell is he anyway? We still haven't met him yet."

"He's antisocial."

"Or imaginary . . ."

"He is not imaginary."

"Then prove it!"

Finally having enough of Recca and Anju's soon to be cat fight Rikku lodged herself between the two in an effort to separate them. She knew if she didn't they would argue for hours, only to laugh and hug like nothing had happened at all shortly after. It was Rikku who seemed to keep the arguments relatively short.

"Guuuuuuys!" she found herself shouting.

It quieted them down instantly. It was rare to hear Rikku yell at them, plus she was so tiny that such a big sound coming from someone like her was slightly terrifying.

"Do you want to hear what happened to me or not?"

They nodded after mumbling insincere apologies, then took seat at the nearby cafe. She told them about her run in with the spiky haired teen, and about the memory she had seen when they touched. They had heard all of the Akane memory related stories before, although a majority of them were fluff memories of her interacting with her royal family in ancient Japan. The Egypt setting was something completely new.

"Well it would make sense that she would have ties with Egypt," Recca reasoned after listening to Rikku's story. "We already suspected the bracelet was from Egypt."

"What happened to the boy?" Anju then asked.

"Boy?" Rikku asked back.

"The one with that puzzle thing that looked like your bracelet."

"Oh . . . I dunno. I ran away," she answered, looking down at her hands sheepishly.

She knew that it was silly of her to run. For years she had had so many questions about her bracelet and while she had found bits and pieces of information about the mysterious Japanese princess by exploring the massive property her family lived on this was her first major break through. Running before seeing if he knew anything was beyond foolish.

"You ran?!" Recca exclaimed, reflecting Rikku's thoughts perfectly. "Oh Rikku . . . The universe gave you that big beautiful brain of yours for a reason kid."

"Well what about a name? Did you at least get that?" Anju probed.

"His friend called him Yugi."

The name held no meaning to Rikku at first, but by the look on Recca's face she could only assume it held some meaning for her. The brunette's eyes widened and an excited grin formed on her face.

"Shut up! King of Games Yugi Muto?!" Recca grilled, only receiving a shrug in return. "Funny hair, kinda goofy looking, short?"

"You know when you make fun of one short person you make fun of all short people," Anju interrupted as she took a sip of the tea she had ordered.

"Look here sister. It's not my fault that the two of you weren't gifted with long beautiful legs like me."

"Yeah, that sounds like him," Rikku answered in an effort to revert the conversation back to the original topic.

"Should be easy to find then. He goes to our school," Recca stated.

"Him and his friends are almost never there though," Anju added.

"Hm . . . Okay, well the kid's a duelist. When's the next big tournament?"

"Battle City," she answered.

"You're not a duelist. How the hell did you know that?"

"Seto Kaiba only announced it in the most public way possible not too long ago," Rikku chimed in.

"That guy's such a douche," Recca insulted before slamming her fist into her palm determinedly. "Alright. New plan; Sign up for the Battle City Tournament and kick some major can in the process. We're bound to run into him eventually. By the sounds of it he didn't seem all too surprised about what had happened so he has to know something."

"There's only one problem with that," Rikku said, earning her a quizzical look from Recca. "You had to be invited in order to participate. Which we were not."

It was silent between the three for a moment, excluding Recca's finger tapping and Anju's tea sipping. Rikku's mindset was that they would be better off wandering around Battle City until they found him. Anju's was to sit back and let Yugi come to them. If he really did know anything, or wanted to find out more about the bracelet he would find them eventually, maybe even show up to school for once. While the super competitive Recca believed participating was the best course of action.

"What about your dad Rikku?" Recca finally asked.

"What about him?"

"He's a big wealthy businessman; Even owns a couple of shares of Kaiba corp doesn't he? Maybe he could convince him to let us enter."

It seemed doubtful. From what Rikku observed it was impossible to convince Kaiba of anything. Although at this point any plan was better than no plan so Rikku nodded and stood up.

"We can ask. He should be home from his business trip any minute now."

After saying goodbye to her friends Rikku walked back to where she had parked her scooter. Recca and Anju had taken Anju's car and had decided to meet her at her family's estate. She was extremely grateful for those two. Before they came into her life Rikku had spent a majority of her time alone. Ever since the flashbacks of Akane's life started on her sixteenth birthday she would randomly blackout in class or during gym. Her classmates didn't understand, and avoided her as they were under the assumption that she was weird.

Lucky for Rikku she had made friends with quiet Anju in middle school. Like Rikku her tendency to wear dark clothing, and quiet behavior had alienated her from her classmates. She listened to Rikku's hypotheses about where her treasured bracelet came from and more often than not spent most of her time at Rikku's house. They would play music together and go on adventures around the property in hopes of finding more treasures like the bracelet.

It wasn't long after that that they met Recca. A transfer student who had lived in America most of her life and whose outspoken personality made others weary. Entering high school the three became a staple. Where one was the other two were close behind. Almost everyone knew who they were, and while they were still considered to be misfits people seemed to be far more accepting of them.

"You're brother is freaking weird," Recca said as soon as Rikku pulled into the driveway.

"What do you mean?"

She didn't really need to ask. Beneath the cool and calm mask he put on around everyone else Ichiro was really just as spastic and weird as she was.

"We pulled up and he freaked out and ran inside like a psycho," she answered while they walked into the mansion sized house.

"You terrify him! As a matter of fact you terrify everyone."

With a proud grin Recca plopped down on the couch stretching out her legs and resting her hands behind her head.

"Nice to know I still have that effect on people."

"Where's Anju?" Rikku asked after taking note of her friend's absence and taking a seat on what little room there was on the couch.

"Beats me. She disappeared soon after we got here. She's probably tinkering around on that piano of yours."

They were talking only for a moment before Kazuhiko walked in. At the sight of his daughter his sullen expression instantly brightened and he walked over to them.

"Hi!" she greeted happily.

"Hello Mayflower. Recca," he greeted back.

"Yo Mr. Hikari!"

"You two are almost never here when I'm home. What are you guys up to?"

"We need you to convince that Kaiba snob to let us compete in his tournament!" Recca answered.

"Compete in his tournament? Why would you want to do that?"

"It's for my research," Rikku replied.

She had told her father about what her bracelet could do before, although he only assumed that it was her overactive imagination making up stories. He never impeded on her research however, making sure to give her anything she needed when she asked for it.

"I'm not sure how much help I'll be but I'll see what I can do."

With that he walked off with a wave and Anju walked in.

"Dude. Where have you been?" Recca asked, sitting up so Anju could sit down.

"In the bathroom. Some of us like to look our best," she responded, putting her makeup pouch in her bag.

"I look flawless," Recca quipped after catching on that the remark had been aimed at her.

"Dad said he would help," Rikku told her, again in hopes of avoiding one of their infamous cat fights.

"That's great," Anju replied with a sweet smile.

She could hear Recca mumble something about Anju's tendency to be nicer to Rikku being unfair before they all turned to the doorway when Kazuhiko walked back in.

"All you have to do is qualify with three stars or higher in his star ranking system and you can participate," he said with a smile. "You two both have three stars. Anju has none since she's never participated in any competitions unfortunately."

"That's quite alright. I'm more of a spectator anyway," she reassured with a smile, again earning mumbles from Recca wondering why she was always nice to everyone but her. Clearly Anju heard the comment and patted Recca's knee reassuringly. "You know I love you."

"Damn straight . . ." she muttered.

"You two staying for dinner?" Kazuhiko asked.

"Only if your cook is making that pot roast of his! That shit is delicious," Recca said with a grin.

"I wish I could stay, but I have study for that test tomorrow," Anju added as she stood from her seat.

Recca scoffed.

"Screw studying. I'm gonna polish up my deck. What about you Rikku?"

"I have a week until the tournament. I'll probably study as well."

"You two are so boring!"

-x-

Rikku and Recca ended up spending a majority of their night reorganizing their decks. There had been talk of studying, although Recca had a knack for distracting her short friend and none of it had gotten done. The end result was both of them exhausted and no more smarter than they were the day before.

"You both look awful," Anju started as the two stumbled into the back seat of her car.

"Yeah well you- Oh . . . I'm too tired for this." Lazily Recca propped her bag against the window to use as a pillow while Rikku moved to the passenger seat with a smile.

"We were up all night putting our decks together," she explained.

"So no studying at all huh?"

"Nope!"

Anju let out a small laugh and the rest of the car ride was relatively silent, with Rikku cramming in some last minute studying and Recca getting in as much sleep as she could. By the time they reached the high school Rikku's brain felt fried and what little energy she had left was now nearly non existent.

"We could just leave her there," Anju suggested watching as Rikku poked Recca and noticing that nothing she did would wake their sleeping friend.

"I heard that!"

"I knew you were faking it. You're such a bad actress."

They all piled out of the car after a minute or two of back and forth between Recca and Anju over who was the better actress. The discussion carried on as they walked to their classroom. Eventually the argument ended in a draw as they took their seats towards the back of the room and the subject changed to Yugi.

"Pft. You really think they're going to show up today?" Recca asked, lazily propping her feet up on the desk next to her.

"Well there is a pretty big test today," Rikku reasoned.

"When has that inspired them to get off their asses before?"

"I don't think they just sit around at home twiddling their thumbs Recca," Anju piped up.

Rikku was sure Recca would have come up with a snappy comeback, but they all instantly quieted down as their tests were placed on their desks. Skimming over the front page she instantly regretted not studying the night before. A test worth half their grade warranted more than a twenty minute cram session in the front of the school in Anju's car. It wasn't however completely ill spent. By the time she finished the second page Anju stood from her desk and motioned to door as if to say she would be waiting outside for them. Recca finished next, but by the look on her face Rikku could only assume it was because she put little to no effort into it. Finally after an additional twenty minutes she finished, quick to gather her things and run out to meet her friends who were once again in the "Who's the better actress" discussion.

"Clearly it's me! Rikku, tell her it's me," Recca demanded when she joined them.

"Uhm . . ."

"Don't pressure her Recca! It's fine Rikku. You can tell her it's me. No one's feelings will be hurt."

"Well I-"

"How is that not pressuring?"

"It's not pressuring if it's fact," she answered simply as the three began to walk to their usual lunch hangout.

"Fact my bum," Recca muttered just before she started down the steps to the ground floor.

Rikku would have contributed to the conversation, but her energy was depleted. She needed to concentrate on where she was going so an incident like the other day wouldn't occur again. Her effort was in vain however as she closed her eyes momentarily during the biggest yawn of her life and didn't notice the stairs in front of her.

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. All she felt was the air beneath her feet as she fell forward with a tiny squeak, squeezing her eyes shut tight, and hearing nothing but a gasp from Anju and a loud; "Heads up!" from Recca. She was going to fall onto someone again. She just knew it.

"Oof!"

The male voice sounded familiar, and the item crushing into her stomach brought back the memory of her falling into that damn fountain. Overall she was feeling a strange sense of deja vu.

"Baha! Well what do you know. Looks like you came to us after all," she heard Recca say next to her followed by another burst of laughter at Rikku's expense.

Cautiously she opened her eyes only to meet the violet eyes of Yugi Muto once again. Instantly her face turned a deep shade of red, partly from embarrassment but mostly from the feeling of his arms wrapped around her tightly. He had tried to catch her. Chivalrous, but only made the trip all that more embarrassing.

"Uhm. Hi again," he said with a nervous laugh.

"Hey, hey. Watch the hands there grabby," Recca said before Rikku could reply.

"What?! No I, I wasn't-"

"She was just teasing," Anju comforted as she and Recca helped Rikku off him and a blonde boy and the girl from before helped Yugi up.

"I dunno why. Yugi just about saved your friend's life here," the second boy said.

"Do you know how many times this girl has tripped down stairs? She's like a cat; got nine lives," Recca stated.

"Guys, it's really not a big deal," Yugi cut in with another nervous laugh. "I'm just happy that no one was hurt."

"Yeah, see? The squirt's fine."

"Waaaait a minute," the blonde finally cut in. "I know you. You're that damn Yankee!"

Rikku let out a small sigh, noticing Recca's eye begin to twitch and her face grow red. If there was anything she hated more than school or being productive it was being called a Yankee. Despite growing up in America, she had been born in Japan and had a Japanese father. When people asked she told them she was Japanese, not the the more accurate Japanese-American.

"Call me a Yankee one more time Wheeler! I dare you!" she hissed.

"And you're that smartass class president!" he added, completely ignoring Recca's challenge and pointing a rude finger at Anju.

"Do people really call me a smartass?" Anju questioned, conveying a fake hurt tone.

"And you're that klutz Rikku!"

"Okay okay Joey. I think that's quite enough," the brunette finally cut in. "If we don't hurry lunch will be over and I don't know about you guys but I don't want to spend it arguing over nothing."

"I agree with Tea. I'm starving," Tristan chimed in.

"We usually eat lunch on the roof. Do you guys want to join us?" Tea asked with a kind smile.

"You bet we do," Recca answered for the three of them. Rikku knew what her mindset was. Lunch would be the perfect opportunity for her to probe Yugi for answers about that puzzle around his neck, and why it reacted to her bracelet. That or she just wanted to stick around so she could verbally abuse Joey Wheeler for his Yankee comment.

"I didn't bring a lunch," Joey stated. "We should go to the market right quick."

The others piped in with quick, "Me too"s as Rikku pulled out her slightly squashed lunch box and Yugi did the same.

"Great. We'll go get lunch and Yugi and Rikku can head on up to save our space since they already have theirs," Tea said.

Before either of them could protest the five ran off, but not before Recca whispered an inappropriate comment in Rikku's ear. Her face turned beat red again and she covered it with her spare hand to the best of her ability.

"You okay?" Yugi asked once their friends had disappeared from view.

"Yup. Let's go," she lied following his lead up the stairs.

"I'm sorry about Joey and Tristan," he said once they had settled down. "They're usually not so rude."

"Don't even get me started on rude friends," Rikku replied still trying to get Recca's crude comment out of her head. It was silent for a moment before finally her curiosity got the best of her.

"Okay. I have to ask; what's the deal with that?" she asked pointing to the puzzle as he cupped it tenderly in his hands.

"I don't think you'd believe me if I told you," he joked.

'If only he knew,' she thought to herself before flashing him a reassuring smile. "Try me."

"Well . . . it contains the spirit of a five thousand year old pharaoh," he answered. He looked at her as if expecting her to laugh at him, or call him an idiot but honestly nothing surprised Rikku anymore. That's when it hit her.

"Ah! So that's who you were talking to yesterday?" she asked as if to confirm her suspicions.

"You heard him?" he asked. He seemed to be in more shock than Rikku was at this point.

"Well yeah . . . Honestly you looked kind of silly when it looked like you were talking to nothing. Nice to know you're not a total psycho."

"Does that happen to you often?" he asked only receiving a raised eyebrow and a puzzled stare in return. "That flashback. It didn't seem like that was the first time that had happened."

"It's my bracelet," she answered holding out her wrist so he could see it. "It shows me the memories of that girl Akane you saw."

'Another millennium item we don't know about perhaps?' she heard the deep voice from before say.

"No, just a regular bracelet," she answered him absentmindedly, completely forgetting that she seemed to be the only other person who could hear him. "Relatively normal anyway," she added.

"So if I can hear your spirit friend why can't I see him?" Rikku found herself asking. She wanted to know everything about that puzzle. It seemed reasonable to assume after her vision yesterday that the more she learned about Yugi and his puzzle the more she would find out about her own treasure.

"No one but me can see him until he takes over," Yugi answered.

"Takes over? Like take over you?"

Yugi nodded and Rikku gave herself a moment to let that set in.

"Can he hear me?"

'Yes I can hear you,' the spirit answered after what seemed like a moment of hesitation.

Rikku's eyes sparkled slightly. This was probably the most exciting thing to happen to her since she found her bracelet.

"Hello!" she greeted excitedly.

'Hello,' he replied. She could tell that he was slightly uncomfortable that she could hear him, but Rikku's curiosity insisted that she know more about him. After a moment of brainstorming she suggested the only solution she could think of.

"Do you think maybe I could see him?" she proposed sheepishly. Yugi looked to his left and Rikku could only assume that he was looking to the spirit for permission.

"I guess that would be okay."

Excited, Rikku put down her lunch in preparation, but before she had a chance to meet him their friends returned with their lunches.

"We're back!" Tea exclaimed, taking a seat next to Yugi, while Recca and Anju sat on either side of Rikku.

"You don't seem to happy to see us kid," Recca pouted noticing the disappointed look on her friend's face. "I even brought pocky back for you."

Her eyes brightened once again as she snatched the box out of her hand eagerly. As she munched on the chocolate covered cookie stick and her emerald green eyes looked over the newly formed group she knew that she would be around these people more often now. Meeting the spirit of the millennium puzzle would happen sooner rather than later.


	3. Chapter 3

**Howdy howdy howdy readers! It's updating time! Whoohoo! Thanks to my new followers and to the kind people that took the time to review. x3 Reviews make me happy! Don't have much to say this time. Hope everyone has a good Christmas! Enjoy Chapter Three. /poofs**

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><p>Rikku's day began like any other would. She spent a majority of her morning with her guitar. A past time that besides her research and her friends took up a good chunk of her time. Ichiro then came into her room later in the day to begin his ritualistic torment. She was able to narrowly escaped by retreating into her bathroom, although him tapping on the door for ten minutes straight made her realize that he wasn't going to leave any time soon. Regardless Rikku decided to take the opportunity to shower and get ready for the rest of her day.<p>

She just knew that even after taking an especially long hour to get ready that he would still be waiting for her on the other side of the door ready to attack. He always knew how to make her day exhausting and painful. Her only option was face the music and get it over with, so with a sharp inhale Rikku cautiously opened the door.

"Hi-ya!" she heard Ichiro cry as he smacked her face with a pillow before throwing to the ground with a grin.

Rikku frowned. That couldn't possibly be all he had planned.

"That's it?" she asked carefully.

"That's it," he affirmed before walking off.

Confused at her brother's lack of enthusiasm, but not about to complain anytime soon Rikku trotted down the stairs and out the door. She was in a hurry now that Ichiro's daily "torment" had made her late to meeting Recca, Anju, and her new group of friends. After learning that Recca and Rikku had decided to enter the tournament they had been invited to go with Yugi and his friends to pick up their duel disks. It was nice that she had managed to make some more friends, however they hadn't talked about Yugi's millennium puzzle or Rikku's bracelet since the lunch they had shared a week earlier. She hadn't had a memory since that day either. Honestly she wasn't sure if she was supposed to happy about that (as it meant less accidents for Rikku) or worried that her latest memory was her last one.

It was as if on cue, as Rikku walked solemnly down the street the sidewalk turned to grass, the buildings disappeared and were replaced by the Japanese palace she had seen countless times before, the blue sky turned grey and thunder could be heard in the distance. Little Akane came running out (Rikku guessed she couldn't have been older than seven or eight) and tugged lightly on the clothing of a taller woman with piercing brown eyes and a tired expression on her face.

"I'm ready Natsuko!" Akane whined as she tugged harder in an attempt to stop the woman walking briskly ahead of her.

"Teleporting is complicated and messy business princess," she insisted. "I myself did not learn how to until I was well into my teens."

Finally Natsuko came to a halt causing the little princess to run into her and land on her butt with an "Oof!". The woman held out her hand to help her up but stubbornly Akane jumped on her own, her fists clenched and a determined glare on her face.

"I can do it though. I know I can."

Natsuko let out a sigh and knelt down to Akane's height so she could look the girl in the eye. There was no stopping Akane when she had her mind set on something. With or without her mentor's help she would find a way to learn.

"You're brother would be displeased if you got lost while practicing this," she told her. That had been sugar coating it. Odds were if the princess were to disappear and never return Natsuko would never see the light of day again.

"I'm not going to get lost!" the princess insisted with a huff.

"Alright, alright." Natsuko stood and looked around her before pointing to Akane's favorite spot in the palace garden. "That's where you're going to teleport," she instructed before positioning herself behind her and pushing on her back. "Straighten up. No slouching." She moved in front of Akane again and motioned for her to close her eyes. Obediently she did and waited for her next instruction. Natsuko seemed to hesitate, probably because she was still certain that what she was doing was a bad idea.

"Now this is incredibly important princess. You must listen very carefully."

Akane only nodded and her mentor continued.

"You must concentrate very hard to visualize the spot I showed you understand? If you think of anything else or let your mind wander you are going to get lost. Do _not_ let your mind wander."

Natsuko knew what she was asking. It was hard enough to expect a child's mind not to wander, but Akane was a completely different story. Concentrating, staying still, not wandering was something the princess struggled with daily. Regardless she stood back after positioning Akane's hands in the correct placement for teleporting.

"Okay, princess. Do it now," she ordered.

Nothing happened at first, and a wave of relief rushed over Natsuko. Akane would get frustrated if she didn't teleport as expected, but at least she would be safe. The relief was short lived however as the princess' lavender colored aura surrounded her and in a split second she disappeared from sight. Natsuko whirled around to the spot she had ordered Akane to teleport to. She wasn't there . . . Which was not good. In a panic she rushed over the spot, looking up the tree and around in hopes that she would be there.

"Shit."

In the blink of an eye the scene changed. Rikku found herself in another familiar setting. She was in Egypt again; in the same spot where she saw Akane and Yugi's pharaoh friend the first time. No one was around however until not too far off she saw the body of Akane fall to the ground with a thud. The klutzy behavior and the not so graceful landings were so similar to Rikku it was scary.

After what seemed like a moment of hesitation Akane whirled around and began to run forcing Rikku to follow. She couldn't get too far. With the high walls surrounding the Egyptian palace there was no where for her to go, and while most would be terrified of not knowing where they were Akane just seemed irritated. She backed up, her eyes never leaving the tall walls in front of her, as if studying them would help her come up with a plan to get over them. Slowly, she continued to back up. If she could get back far enough and get a running start she could probably use her magic to propel herself over the wall and escape.

Before she had a chance to do so however she felt herself bumping into the back of another. Whirling around she held her fists up as if ready to fight as the boy turned around as well.

"Who are you?" he asked, just as surprised as she was.

"I'm warning you," she said ignoring his question. "Just because I'm small doesn't mean I don't know how to fight."

"Fight?"

"Yeah! Fight!"

"Why would I want to fight you?"

Akane hesitated for a moment, but finally put her fists down and frowned at the boy standing in front of her.

"You ask a lot of questions ya know that?" she said rudely.

"You're the one who's trespassing in my home," he retorted.

"Not intentionally . . ." Akane's eyes shifted from the boy to the palace behind him, then back at him. "What are you some kind of prince or something?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered cautiously.

With a rude scoff and a shrug she turned his nose up at him and crossed her arms. "Mine's bigger," she said waving a finger at the palace.

He ignored her rude comment.

"Why do you dress so unusually?" he asked.

"Why do you ask so many questions?" she shot back. "I don't have to tell you anything. I'm leaving."

"Hold on! Watch out for the-"

Before he could finish his sentence Akane's legs hit the side of the garden's fountain, making her lose her balance and fall backwards. After a split second of flailing her arms about she grabbed the outstretched arm of the prince in hopes of saving herself the embarrassment of falling, but did nothing but bring him down with her, causing them both to land in the shallow water. He only sat there for a moment, as if wondering what had just happened. It wasn't until he looked over at the princess that he sat up and stared at her.

"Hey. Are you alright?" the prince finally asked after he had managed to pick himself up from the fall and jump out of the fountain. Akane frowned at his dumb question as she too sat up.

"Weeeeet!" she whined in response. She tried as best she could to stand up, but with the weight of her now soaking wet kimono the end result was her falling back down with a splash and another pout. The prince held out his hand with a kind smile, which probably should have irritated Akane even more than it did. After being incredibly rude, knocking him over, and getting him soaked you would think that he would laugh at her struggle. That's probably what she would have done, but instead he kept his hand stretched out to her as if the past couple of minutes hadn't of even happened.

Akane's pride wouldn't allow her to look at the boy as she took his hand and he helped her to her feet with ease. She let go of his hand once she was out of the cursed fountain and finally returned his smile with an almost sincere smile of her own.

"Where are you from?" he asked after a minute of staring at her strange clothes again.

Akane knew that the boy had probably earned some answers, and she was desperately in need some answers herself. She didn't know where she had teleported herself to still. All Akane knew was that she had thought of the garden just as Natsuko had instructed and she clearly was in a garden now . . . just not her garden.

"Japan," she answered simply.

"You speak Egyptian fairly well for someone not native here," the boy complemented.

"And you speak Japanese fairly well," she quipped. He seemed puzzled by her comment, and followed her as she began to wander again.

"I'm not speaking Japanese," he informed her.

"And I'm not speaking Egyptian."

"I don't understand," he said, his words matching the expression on his face.

"I'm not normal," she stated as she sat down on the ground and pick the desert flower in front of her out of the ground. The prince sat in front of her, remaining silent as if waiting for an explanation. "I'm magic," she added as she waved a hand over the tiny flower turning it instead into a rose before handing it to the awestruck prince. "I still have trouble controlling it. The translating is just it taking over."

"Is that how you got here? Your magic?" he asked. She just nodded with a sigh. There was no need to confuse him anymore by trying to explain something she did not fully understand herself. Natsuko was right; teleporting was a complicated and messy practice.

"Can everyone where you come from do it?"

"No. Just people of the royal family, and Natsuko . . . Maybe some commoners. I don't know. Oh!" Akane flashed him a kind smile. She seemed to warmed up to him. "I'm Akane by the way. What's your name?"

"My name is-"

"Oi! Girl! What are you doing?!"

Just as quickly as Rikku was pulled into Akane's memory she was ripped out of it as she felt a hand tug on the back of her shirt making her stumble backwards. She heard the sound of a car honking and a gasp or two before her eyes adjusted back into the real world. She found herself at a crosswalk, cars whizzing by, and people surrounding her.

"Are you insane?!" the man who had pulled on her asked positioning himself in front of her and putting his hands on her shoulders to steady her. "You almost got yourself killed!"

It took some convincing, but Rikku was able to persuade the grown ups around her that she was fine so she could leave to meet her friends. It hadn't been the first time that she had almost gotten herself killed while being shown a memory and it certainly wasn't going to be the last, but thanks to the vision she was now even more late than she had been before. Luckily the registration office wasn't much farther and she walked in to find her friends already inside.

"Aww yeah baby! Lemme see those beautiful stars!" she heard Joey shout as she walked up to them.

"What's going on?" she asked being greeted by a wave of smiles.

"Just Wheeler being an idiot," Recca insulted with a nonchalant shrug receiving a glare from the blonde.

"This idiot has one more star than you do Ishizaki!" he retorted.

"That star ranking system is crap! I'll take you down right here, right now!"

"I'll wipe the floor with ya!"

"You okay Rikku? You look kind of flustered," Yugi asked after she walked up to the counter. She gave him a reassuring smile and nod after giving the desk clerk her name.

"I had an interesting afternoon," she said vaguely. The box containing her duel disk was slid across the counter and cautiously Rikku picked it up while eying the man staring at the computer and mumbling to himself.

"Hey Rikku," Yugi started, making her forget all about the strange man behind the counter. "You never told me why you decided to join the tournament."

His comment threw her for a loop. There was no way she was going to tell him that her original reason for wanting to participate was so she could find him. That reason was mute now anyhow.

"For fun," she told him. "What other reason is there?"

He was silent for a moment, hesitating to answer.

"Saving the world comes to mind."

"Saving the world?" She asked with a laugh. She assumed that he was joking. The serious faraway stare of his made her realize that he hadn't been however and she tugged on his sleeve a little for an explanation. "What do you mean by that?"

"When we met the other week . . . I was just leaving that Egypt exhibit where Tea and I met a woman who said that I had to participate in this tournament in order to save the world from a great evil," he said.

"What evil?" she found herself asking. She was only more confused now.

"I'm not sure yet, but this tournament could get dangerous. Just promise me you'll be careful," he insisted. Rikku nodded. She wanted to press him for more questions, but he seemed just as clueless as she was.

"I'll just stick with you!" she said with a smile. "You'll keep me safe right?" she added in an attempt to lighten the mood. Her comment seemed to fluster Yugi but he nodded regardless.

"Yeah, sure. I'll watch out for you Rikku." He fumbled over the words but before she could tease him about it Joey and Recca marched in between them on their way out the door.

"You're just lucky I have to go meet my sister at the hospital!" Joey shouted with a huff.

"Sounds like an excuse to me," Recca stated keeping her cool and mumbling; "Chickenshit," under her breath.

"Watch it . . ." Joey said, clearly hearing her insult.

"I'm gonna snatch that kid's rarest card so fast he won't even know what hit him," Recca said evilly and with a smirk.

"Why would you do that?" Rikku asked cluelessly.

"If you lose a duel you have to give your opponent your rarest card," Yugi told her. "It's part of Kaiba's new rules."

"Seriously?" Rikku found herself in panic mode and she shuffled through her deck before she pulled out a single card. She had been told it was silly for her to have such an attachment to her cards. She hadn't even played with them for months, but she had spent years and a lot of her free time collecting and putting together her deck. She couldn't even imagine parting with a single card.

"What's that you got there?" Yugi asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"I guess it's my rarest card," she told him, handing it to him. "It's certainly my favorite. My dad gave it to me when I first got into Duel Monsters."

"The Fallen Angel of Roses?"

"Mhm . . . My plant deck wouldn't be the same without it." She took the card back from him and put it tenderly on top of her deck.

"I'm sure you'll be okay," Yugi reassured. "Anju and Recca told me you're really good."

Rikku let out a nervous laugh as blush crept up on her face.

"Yeah, they would say that. They're like doting parents. Sometimes they over exaggerate . . . Speaking of which where did everyone go?"

"They just left not too long ago. You didn't notice?"

"Oh . . . No. I didn't. Walk me home?"

He gave her a nod followed by a smile and began walking in the direction she had pointed to.

"You seem distracted," Yugi said after a few minutes of silence. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Hm? Yeah. I'm fine. I had another Akane memory shown to me again this earlier." she confessed. "Just when I think I'm starting to learn more about her and what connections I have with her something else comes up that just makes it all more confusing."

"You know I know someone who can sympathize with that," Yugi replied.

"Really? Who?" she asked hopeful. She needed someone she could related to honestly. Sure, Anju and Recca tried their best to understand, but they didn't know what it was like to be constantly shown things that didn't make any sense or make you question who you are and how you fit into the equation.

"The spirit of the millennium puzzle," he answered as he looked down at the puzzle hanging around his neck. "He doesn't know a thing about his past either. I can tell it frustrates him sometimes."

"Is it not weird having to share you body with someone else?"

"It's not weird," Yugi answered. "He's my best friend . . . You don't feel any sort of connection with Akane?"

"Well I've never been able to talk to her. All I see are memories. Other than looking like me and being a klutz like me there's really nothing to connect with. Plus Akane has nearly gotten me killed on multiple occasions."

It was silent again as they walked until Rikku stopped at the steps of her house sheepishly. The over sized house tended to intimidate people that didn't know her all too well. Even Recca and Anju were left speechless after seeing where she lived for the first time.

"Wow!" Yugi exclaimed. "You live here?" Rikku only nodded. "It's huge! Is it just you who lives here?"

"And my brother. My parents are usually out of country."

"That must get lonely."

"Not since I met Recca and Anju," she replied happily. "And you," she tacked on without thinking. She felt her face grow red and if it hadn't been so dark out she probably would have seen the same on Yugi's face as well. "And Tea, and Joey, and Tristan!" she added quickly to cover up her mistake. "All your friends are great people!"

"Well you haven't met all of them yet," Yugi said with a nervous laugh, probably just as thankful for the subject change. Rikku knew that he was talking about the spirit of the millennium puzzle. She had been wanting to meet him for awhile now, but the opportunity never seemed to arise.

"Maybe I can meet him now?" She asked anxiously. She clasped her hands together in front of her and put on the sweetest smile she could muster. "Pretty please?"

"Okay, okay. Now seems a good a time as any," he said with another laugh. "Here we go."

At the touch of his hands the puzzle began to glow just as it had the day they had met, but after the glow subsided Yugi was gone and a taller version of him took his place. His giant innocent eyes were replaced with sharp violet eyes that bore into hers. She could tell the difference instantly.

"Ah! Hello!" Rikku said her smile never leaving her face. "It's nice to finally meet you!"

"And I you," the deep familiar voice said kindly. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Yugi."

Rikku only blinked in response. She had drawn a blank. She had just gotten so excited that her brain had turned into mush.

"Remind me what conversation again?" she said sheepishly.

"You said your bracelet brought you more questions than it did answers. I often feel the same about my puzzle."

"Oh right!" Before she could say anything more she felt arms wrap around her torso and Anju's head popped out from behind her. "Anju? What are you doing here?"

"I've been looking for you. I've been waiting here almost all day," she answered, refusing to let go of Rikku. "Hello Yugi," she greeted. He nodded in return. "Just so you know Ichiro is in fine form tonight."

On cue her brother came running down the stairs only just barely screeching to a halt without hurting someone.

"Oh no," Rikku groaned knowing perfectly well what was about to happen.

"Who the hell are you?!" he questioned, pointing a rude finger in the spirit's face.

"I, uhm-"

"Mayflower! Is this your boyfriend?!" The finger then moved to Rikku's face and she pushed it away.

"Boyfriend?" Both she and the spirit asked in unison.

"I'll have you know, no one dates my baby sister without first going through an extensive background check conducted by me!"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Rikku yelled defensively, the blush on her face betraying her again for the second time that night.

"I think you two make a cute couple," Anju offered calmly, earning her a glare from Rikku.

"Anju! Why are you encouraging him?!"

"Mayflower!" Ichiro scolded before placing himself between the two and grabbed her hands in his. "You are much too young for a boyfriend! I cannot allow for your innocence to be taken away by this spiky haired buffoon!"

"I have a boyfriend," Anju stated as a matter of factly. "Do you think I'm too young for a boyfriend Ichiro?"

"I . . . Er . . . That's not the point!"

"Oh my god! He is not my boyfriend!" Rikku cut in as she snatched her hands away. "And you are being so rude!"

"Someone has to look out for your safety! As the most important man in your life I insist that person be me!"

"Perhaps I should be going," the spirit finally managed to get in.

"Wait! There was something I wanted to show you." Without another word to her brother Rikku pushed past him and grabbed the spirit's hand to rush him up the stairs that led to the house.

"Ah! Hold on just a second! You two can't go up there!" Ichiro scolded rushing to follow them with Anju not too far behind. Rikku ignored him however and walked inside without a word. "Okay, fine. He can come in but you have to stay in the living room!" Again Rikku ignored him, walking up the stairs and into her room. "Okay you can talk in here, but the door has to stay open!" She slammed the door in his face leaving Anju and Ichiro locked out. He turned to her only to be met with vicious violet eyes.

"Well?" she asked him icily.

"Well?" he repeated, playing dumb.

"Maybe if you think I'm too young for a boyfriend as well I should go break up with him," she spat before turning on her heel and walking away. He blinked a couple of times, not sure what had just happened and not sure if he wanted to follow her or stay behind to keep an eye on Rikku.

"Should I follow you?" He called stupidly.

"No!"

He ignored her however and rushed down the stairs after her leaving Rikku and the spirit alone again.

"What was it that you wanted to show me?" the spirit asked as soon as Rikku nodded that the coast was clear.

"Hm? Oh right!"

With a huff Rikku knelt down on the floor and pulled out a bin from under her bed and opened it with a smile. His eyes widened slightly and he sat down next to her.

"What is all of this?" He questioned her.

"It's all of my Akane research!"

He looked at her stunned before looking back at the bin full of papers and notebooks.

"You did all of this by yourself?"

"Oh no!" she said with a laugh, watching as he ruffled through the bin staring intently at her work. "Anju and Recca helped a lot. Even my loser brother helped."

"This is very impressive," he complimented absentmindedly. She blushed at the comment and smiled none the less.

"Does anything stick out to you?" she asked hopeful. He shook his head with a sigh however placing everything back into the bin.

"No, unfortunately." He gave her a small smile as if saying that it was alright.

"You are very fortunate to have people in your life who are so supportive such as them," he told her. Her smile brightened and she nodded.

"I'm the luckiest girl alive," she told him. She pushed her bin of research back underneath the bed before sitting next to the spirit, pulling her legs to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. "It hasn't always been like this though," she blurted out without thinking.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked.

"It's kind of a long story," she replied with a light laugh. He only continued to stare at her however. "I can tell you if you want," she added assuming that's what he wanted.

"Please," he said with a nod. She nodded in return taking in a deep breath to tell him about her life before her friends.


End file.
